Andorra national rugby union team
The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards (which is a Pyrenean Chamois) represent Andorra in international rugby union competitions. They are currently ranked 62nd out of 95 Rugby playing nations by the International Rugby Board (IRB). They play most of their home games in Andorra la Vella, the country's capital, though have had some matches in Foix, which is in France. They compete in the European Nations Cup, and are currently in the second division. As well as playing numerous friendlies they have also taken part in the qualification stages of the Rugby World Cup, competing in every tournament since 1995. History Andorra played their first rugby international in 1987 against Luxembourg. Andorra won the match 24-3. Andorra first tried to qualify for the Rugby World Cup in 1995. They competed in the preliminary round in the west group of the European qualification. They defeated Denmark, but lost to Switzerland, and were knocked out. Andorra also attempted to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Andorra started off in Pool 3 of Round 1, and won all four of their fixtures, finishing at the top of the final standings to advance through to Round 2. However they were then knocked out of qualifying after Round 2 coming last in a five team group. They competed in Pool B of Round 1 in attempting to qualify for the 2003 World Cup, but did not advance to the next stage coming third in a six team group. The 2007 tournament saw many more fixtures and gained the small nation some greater publicity by playing in the first match of the tournament, beating Norway 76-3. They won a 2 leg match, came third in the ensuing five team group thus qualifying for a further 2 leg playoff, victory in which led to a further five team group in which they were last. Competing with the more populous Moldova, Netherlands, Spain and Poland, having beaten Norway, Hungary, Slovenia and Sweden certainly brought Andorra to the attention of more rugby followers, all in spite of a small population of just 70,000. Popularity The popularity of football in Andorra has been on the decline due to a poor record at home and away. This has left room for Andorran rugby to rise out of the shadows. Mainly affected by the fanatical popularity of rugby in southern France, Els Isards continue to impress on the international stage. This has led to the rapid increase in the number of registered players in Andorra. Many are now suggesting that rugby in Andorra has grown to such an extent that it has now become the tiny nation's national sport. As well as a mens 15 aside team, the men have competed in the European Sevens competition since 2005. In 2005 they won promotion to the next division and in both 2006 and 2007 made the finals of the competition. Also Andorra have a womens set up. As of yet they have only played sevens, competing in 2006 and 2007. Youth rugby in Andorra is less developed and has to date only consisted of training camps. Results Mens 15 aside Analysis Andorra have played friendlies, FIRA competitions and World Cup Qualifiers. The full results list including details of unplayed games can be found below. The various game types can be summarised as follows - note that unfulfilled and defaulted games are NOT included in the analysis although they do count towards the game count in the full list. Also if a game has been both a World Cup and FIRA game then it is only recorded here in the World Cup figures. Matches against individual teams can be summarised as follows Full Match List Results Mens 7s To date Andorra (men) have played in eight International Sevens Tournaments (FIRA-AER 2005 Qualifiers (2 rounds), FIRA-AER 2006 Qualifiers (2 rounds) and Finals, FIRA-AER 2007 Qualifiers (2 rounds) and Finals). Each year a number of tournaments take place across Europe and each nation takes part in two tournaments to decide on a final 12. In 2007 Andorra were joint 12th with Croatia but qualified on points difference. The qualifiers seen 5th (3 times), 4th (1 time) and 3rd (2 times). Both appearances in the finals have seen 12th (last) but notable teams have failed to qualify. 25th to 26th June 2005 at Lumel, France (FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Came Fifth (Plate winners) Group Games 0-35 Spain 27-5 Belgium 43-0 Monaco 5-29 France Knock Out (5th to 8th) 5-0 Armenia 26-21 Netherlands 2nd to 3rd July 2005 at Andorra (FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Came Fifth (Plate winners) Group Games 0-29 Spain 24-5 Belgium w/o Slovakia 7-28 France 36-7 Invitation Knock Out (5th to 8th) 26-7 Bosnia and Herzogovina 17-15 Croatia 27th to 28th May 2006 at Amsterdam, Netherlands (FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Came Third Group Games 19-21 Netherlands 26-10 Israel 24-14 Portugal 40-0 Luxembourg Knock Out (1st to 4th) 12-17 Croatia 17-5 Portugal 9th to 10th June 2006 at Madrid, Spain (FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Came Third Group Games 24-0 Croatia 68-0 Norway 54-5 Azerbaijan 0-26 Portugal Knock Out (1st to 4th) 12-19 Spain 26-7 Belgium 15th to 16th July 2006 at Moscow, Russia (FIRA-AER Finals) Came Twelfth Group Games 12-42 Romania 0-52 Spain 12-14 Croatia 7-56 Russia 7-19 Portugal Knock Out (9th to 12th) 19-24 Lithuania 0-21 Ukraine 19th to 20th May 2007 at Amsterdam, Netherlands (FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Came Fourth Group Games 41-0 Belgium 56-0 Norway 7-21 Portugal 39-14 Serbia Knock Out (1st to 4th) 10-21 Italy 5-29 Germany 26th to 27th May 2007 at Croatia (FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Came Fifth (plate winners) Group Games 5-31 Ukraine 40-7 Hungary 41-0 Slovakia 12-14 Italy Knock Out (5th to 8th) 21-5 Greece 47-12 Hungary 7th to 8th July 2007 at Moscow, Russia (FIRA-AER Finals) Came Twelfth Group Games 0-36 Russia 5-26 Romania 14-38 Poland 7-28 Germany 12-33 France Knock Out (9th to 12th) 0-49 Ukraine 17-26 Lithuania 31st May to 1st June 2008 at Zagreb, Croatia (FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Andorra will compete in stage three at Zagreb (Croatia) on 31st May and 1st June as 13th seeds with (seeding in brackets) Moldova (2), Spain (3), Romania (4), Croatia (14), Serbia (22), Switzerland (26), Czech Republic (28), Bosnia Herzogovina (32) and Austria (34). 21st and 22nd June 2008 at Porto Carras, Greece(FIRA-AER Qualifiers) Andorra will compete in stage seven at Porto Carras(Greece) on 21st and 22nd June with (seeding in brackets) Spain (3), Italy (5), Ireland (6), Israel (21), Bulgaria (24), Greece (25), Luxembourg (31), Bosnia Herzogovina (32) and Cyprus (33). (34). 12th and 13th July 2008 at Hanover, Germany(FIRA-AER Finals if qualified) Nation Analysis The Slovakia record includes one "w/o". It is counted as a win with no effect on points scored. Results Womens 7s To date Andorra (women) have played in two international Sevens Tournaments 25th to 27th May 2006 at Limoges, France (FIRA-AER Division B) Came Second and promoted Group Games 17-0 Poland 0-7 Hungary 29-0 Austria 15-0 Malta Knock Out (1st to 4th) 22-0 Bulgaria 0-7 Romania 26th to 27th May 2007 at Zagreb, Croatia (FIRA-AER Division A) Came 8th and should maintain status Group Games 7-29 Germany 22-5 Bulgaria 7-12 Lithuania 19-5 Poland 15-7 Norway Knock Out (7th to 8th) 0-5 Romania 0-29 Norway Nation Analysis Youth Rugby There are only limited records for Andorran youth rugby. A training camp (with Spain and Portugal) took place in 2001/2002. A similar camp took place at Tarazones from 7th to 12th April 2006 with 23 players and 3 coaches attending. These are both for Under 17s. Sources http://www.irb.com/, ITV, http://www.irb.com/, http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/index.php, websites of unions mentioned, Scrum.com, http://www.rugbyinternational.net/ External links * Federació Andorrana de Rugby - Official Site * http://worldcuprugby.blog.co.uk/ - Andorran Rugby Fan Site Category:European national rugby union teams Category:Teams in European Nations Cup (rugby union)